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The Abwehr’s Hairdresser

March 4, 2021 by Diane Greig

Jessie Jordon, a Scottish citizen, began spying for the Abwehr, the German military intelligence after marrying and living in Germany for a number of years.

Photo of a woman getting her hair curled at a beauty parlour

Upon her husband’s death in WW 2, she returned to the UK and opened a hairdressing shop which was a front for her espionage activities. From Perth, she travelled, sometimes with her nieces (as cover), to the seashore to photograph British defence installations north and south of Edinburgh. MI5 began monitoring her mail when German handlers asked her to be a go-between for correspondence between U.S. and German agents.

Due to letter contents, a German spy ring in the US was shut down and Jessie Jordan was arrested. She was found guilty for treason and served four years later being deported back to Germany. The movie, “The Confessions of a Nazi Spy” is partially based on Jessie Jordan’s story.

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